Chinese-backed Jemena was handed the contract last November to build and operate what was then known as the North East Gas Interconnector, connecting the Northern Territory's vast gas fields to the east coast gas market.

As part of that, McConnell Dowell, which had been supporting Jemena through the competitive tender process for the pipeline project, is continuing on as the construction contractor.

The construction scope for the contract, whose value is expected to exceed $300 million, will include the 623km high pressure gas pipeline, two compressor stations and gas treatment facilities.

Wood Mackenzie revealed to Energy News last November that, according to its own numbers that the pipeline was essentially based on hope.

The firm warned the NGP was not certaint to make final investment decision, with lingering uncertainties around the hype of the unconventional gas behind it, the likelihood of long-term capacity agreements to underpin it and who will pay the tariffs.

Jemena has since taken FID and ordered the first pipe, albeit at a smaller diameter than originally considered due to a lack of gas and uncertainties around future supply.

Cummins told Energy News on the sidelines of LNG18 in Perth that while he was not privy to Jemena's analysis of the project's economics or the prospects for the gas needed to justify the investment, from his end it all looked good.

"Projects are never all rosy, and you go into projects realising they all have issues that need to be resolved, but the important thing is that you have the infrastructure around the relationships to be able to deal with them as they come up, because they always will," he said.

"In my 30-year career I don't think I've ever found a project without its own issues to deal with, but as long as you have the lines of communications open you'll be able to deal with your contractors and sub-contractors.

"As I stand here, there's absolutely nothing that I am aware of that we weren't aware of when we bid the job in terms of the risk profile, the cost of execution and those sorts of things.

"If anything, resource availability has increased as a consequence of other projects not going on around Australia as might have been anticipated when the tender went in.

"So the availability of the people to support the work and the competitiveness that is in the environment that we're going to need from any sub-contractors necessary is probably enhanced the ability to deliver the project."

Structural review

While the Northern Gas Pipeline is providing some momentum for his own company, Cummins is undertaking a strategic planning review of the whole enterprise to ensure it's as efficient as it can be, not only for its own sake but for the benefit of its cost-constrained clients.

"What struck me about the company was its diversity, both in its capability and competency in what it can deliver, including pipelines, mechanical works, civil infrastructure, tunnels, marine and offshore jetties," he said.

"So in addition to the product lines and the sectors it works in which are very diverse, it's also the geography - Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Middle east. So for me who came from a more singular-focused background in oil and gas and offshore marine, it presented a great opportunity."

While the oil and gas market is down, Cummins was confident that the contractor's other capabilities into various markets which are actually quite buoyant will stand it in good stead.

"I want to ensure that if we're working in a project in Western Australia or for PTT in Thailand we have the same confidence of delivery, safety and quality right across the organisation," Cummins said.

He wants to bring in some structures to raise that level of capability right across the company, give it a more robust feel to execution of projects and ensure that, in the prevailing climate, it's as efficient and cost-effective as we can possibly be, because that's what clients are expecting.

"We can definitely bring in some efficiencies into our structure so we don't have the overheads as high as what they've been in the past," he said.

"It's no secret that the revenue profile that most companies are going to see over the next couple of years will be less than it will be in the preceding couple of years. So you need to respond to that accordingly."

He also sees a need to ensure the contractor's knowledge is available to the entire organisation, from a project in Thailand to another in the Middle East, for example.

The key, he said is to being "less siloed" in its structure.

He wants "functional oversight and influence across the whole business", so it's less dependent on vertical business structure.

Oil companies have been doing it for years.

"Technology has enabled it to be done so much easier now," he said.

"We all grew up in the days when there wasn't technology. So if you had a business in Indonesia you were there by yourself looking after it. Now technology has been enabler to ensure you have the best knowledge across all the projects everywhere."